For the Management Discussion & Analysis and Financial
Statements please refer to the Corporation's website at
www.firsturanium.com. All amounts are in US dollars ("$"), except
where otherwise indicated.
TORONTO and JOHANNESBURG, May 28,
2013 /CNW/ - First Uranium Corporation (NEX:FIU.H) (JSE:FUU)
(ISIN:CA33744R5047) ("First Uranium" or "the Corporation") today
announced its financial results for the three and twelve months
ended March 31, 2013.
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Abbreviation |
Period |
Abbreviation |
Period |
Q1 2012 |
April 1, 2011 - June 30, 2011 |
Q1 2013 |
April 1, 2012 - June 30, 2012 |
Q2 2012 |
July 1, 2011 - September 30, 2011 |
Q2 2013 |
July 1, 2012 - September 30, 2012 |
Q3 2012 |
October 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011 |
Q3 2013 |
October 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012 |
Q4 2012 |
January 1, 2012 - March 31, 2012 |
Q4 2013 |
January 1, 2013 - March 31, 2013 |
FY 2012 |
April 1, 2011 - March 31, 2012 |
FY 2013 |
April 1, 2012 - March 31, 2013 |
Overview
The Corporation disposed of its principal assets
in Q2 2013.
On July 20, 2012,
the MWS tailings recovery project was sold to AngloGold Ashanti
Limited ("AGA") for cash proceeds of $335
million. The 7% secured convertible notes (the "Canadian
Notes") (Cdn$110 million), 11%
secured convertible notes (the "Rand Notes") (ZAR418.6 million) and loan with Gold One
International Limited ("Gold One") ($10
million plus accrued interest) were settled out of the
proceeds. From the cash proceeds received from AGA, a deferred
payment of $25 million (the "AGA
Deferred Payment") was deposited with a warranty escrow agent
pursuant to terms and conditions of an escrow agreement in
accordance with the AGA sales agreement for a period of six months
(the "AGA Escrow Period") ending on January
20, 2013. No claims were made during the AGA Escrow Period
and consequently, on January 21,
2013, the Corporation received the AGA Deferred Payment
(including interest).
On August 1, 2012,
the Ezulwini Mine was sold to Gold One for cash proceeds of
$70 million. A total of $65 million from the proceeds was paid directly
to First Uranium. The remaining $5
million (the "Gold One Deferred Payment") was held by the
warranty escrow agent pursuant to the terms and conditions of an
escrow agreement in accordance with the Gold One Agreement for a
period of six months (the "Gold One Escrow Period") ending on
February 1, 2013. No claims were made
during the Gold One Escrow Period and consequently, on February 1, 2013, the Corporation received the
Gold One Deferred Payment (including interest).
Following the successful implementation of the
Gold One transaction on August 1,
2012, 95% of the principal amount of the 4.25% unsecured
convertible debentures (the "Debentures") owing as of April 30, 2012 together with the unpaid interest
on 100% of the principal amount of the Debentures accruing from
December 31, 2011 to March 2, 2012 (inclusively) (together, the "95%
Payment Amount") was paid to the Debenture holders. In addition, 2%
of the principal amount of the Debentures owing as of April 30, 2012, was distributed on a pro rata
basis to those Debenture holders who agreed in writing on or before
May 30, 2012, to vote in favour of
the extraordinary resolution to approve the Supplemental Indenture
in relation to the Debentures. The Corporation repaid the remaining
principal amount (Cdn$4.5 million)
due under the Trust Indenture for the Debentures on January 28, 2013.
Upon the disposal of First Uranium's principal
assets, the Corporation effected a change of business according to
the rules of the TSX. As a result of such change in business, the
Corporation no longer met the original listing requirements, and
decided to voluntarily delist from the TSX; however, to maintain
liquidity in the Units and to ensure that it remained a "public
company", it applied for listing on the NEX Exchange (the "NEX"), a
separate board of the TSX Venture Exchange that provides a trading
forum for listed companies that have low levels of business
activity or have ceased to carry on an active business. The Units
were delisted from the TSX at the close of the market on
August 31, 2012 and the Units
commenced trading on the NEX (FIU.H) on September 4, 2012.
After the Corporation's Units were listed on the
NEX and upon meeting the requirements for notice of record dates
and payment dates of the NEX and the JSE Limited, the Corporation
made an initial distribution (the "Initial Distribution") on
October 1, 2012 of Cdn$0.125 (ZAR1.05)
per unit to shareholders of the Corporation, totaling $30.3 million, in the form of a redemption of
12.5 Class A Special Shares at a price per share of Cdn$0.01 (ZAR0.08402).
Following the release of the escrow funds to
First Uranium, the Corporation made a second distribution (the
"Second Distribution") on March 18,
2013 of Cdn$0.102 (ZAR0.88899) per unit to shareholders of the
Corporation, totaling $23.5 million,
in the form of a redemption of 10.2 Class A Special Shares at a
price per share of Cdn$0.01
(ZAR0.087156).
Each Unit is currently comprised of 77.3 Class A
Special Shares and 1 Class B Common Share. The number of Units
outstanding was unchanged following the Initial Distribution and
Second Distribution.
The Corporation is now considering the most
efficient and orderly way in which to distribute to the
shareholders all remaining property of the Corporation (after
payment of the Corporation's remaining creditors), as well as
investigating alternatives, which may include the prospect for a
business combination or sale of the Corporation. If no viable
alternatives are available to the Corporation, the Corporation may
then proceed to be wound up and dissolved. However, the Board has
not made any decisions with respect to the windup and dissolution
at this time.
Summary of Financial Results
The Corporation reported losses from its
continuing operations of $0.8 million
in Q4 2013 (Q4 2012: $5.6 million)
and $21.6 million in FY 2013 (FY
2012: $48.0 million).
Prior to the disposal of its discontinued
operations in Q2 2013, the Corporation reported profits from its
discontinued operations of $108.6
million in FY 2013 compared to losses of $117.1 million in FY 2012. The primary drivers
for the improvement in the results of the discontinued operations
over the comparative period were the $80.3
million profit on disposal of the Corporation's principal
assets in Q2 2013 along with the derivative income related to the
discontinued operations' gold stream transactions of $31.0 million recognized in FY 2013 compared to a
derivative expense recognized in FY 2012 of $14.2 million.
The Corporation (including discontinued
operations) utilized $1.4 million and
$12.3 million of cash from its
operations in Q4 2013 (Q4 2012: $4.5
million) and FY 2013 (FY 2012: $15.5
million), respectively. Prior to the disposal of its
discontinued operations in Q2 2013, the Corporation utilized
$6.9 million during FY 2013 (FY 2012:
$29.4 million) on capital projects at
its discontinued operations. During Q2 2013, the Corporation raised
$388.4 million cash proceeds from the
disposal of its principal assets and used a substantial portion of
the cash proceeds raised ($317.3
million) to settle the Cdn$110
million Canadian Notes ($109.0
million), the ZAR418.6 million
Rand Notes ($51.5 million), the
$10 million Gold One loan facility
and the Cdn$150 million ($151.3 million) of Debentures. During Q3 2013,
the Corporation utilized $30.3
million of the remaining proceeds to pay the Initial
Distribution to the Corporation's shareholders. A further
$23.5 million was used for the Second
Distribution to the Corporation's shareholders during Q4 2013.
As at March 31,
2013, current assets were $4.6
million (March 31, 2012:
$4.2 million excluding assets
classified as held for sale of $656.1
million).
The Corporation's current liabilities amounted
to $1.3 million at the end of FY 2013
(March 31, 2012: $268.8 million) and consisted of a $1.1 million tax payable provision and
$0.2 million of trade and other
payables.
Headline Earning Reconciliation
(in thousands of dollars) |
March 31,
2013 |
March 31,
2012 |
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Total income (loss) for the year |
88,536 |
(165,099) |
Loss from continuing operations for the year |
(21,559) |
(48,018) |
Profit (loss) from discontinued operations for the
year |
110,094 |
(117,081) |
Add back: |
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Profit on disposal of discontinued operations |
(80,319) |
- |
Impairment of assets included in profit (loss) for
the year from discontinued operations |
(542) |
178,171 |
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Total headline earnings for the year |
7,675 |
13,072 |
Headline loss from continuing operations for the
year |
(21,559) |
(48,018) |
Headline profit from discontinued operations for
the year |
29,234 |
61,090 |
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Headline and Diluted Headline Earnings per
Common Share
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March 31,
2013 |
March 31,
2012 |
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Total headline and diluted earnings per share
($) |
0.03 |
0.06 |
Headline loss from continuing operations |
(0.09) |
(0.20) |
Headline profit from discontinued operations |
0.12 |
0.26 |
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is calculated based on the headline income for the
year of ($'000) |
7,675 |
(13,072) |
Headline loss from continuing operations for the
year ($'000) |
(21,559) |
(48,018) |
Headline profit from discontinued operations for
the year ($'000) |
29,234 |
61,090 |
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and a weighted average number of common shares
outstanding of ('000) |
238,193 |
237,703 |
Non-IFRS Measures
The Corporation believes that in addition to
conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, the
Corporation and certain investors and analysts use certain other
non-IFRS financial measures to evaluate the Corporation's
performance including its ability to generate cash flow and profits
from its operations. The Corporation has included certain non-IFRS
measures in this document. Non-IFRS measures do not have any
standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore they may
not be comparable to similar measures employed by other companies.
The data is intended to provide additional information and should
not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of
performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Readers are advised
to read all IFRS accounting disclosures presented in the
Corporation's Financial Statements for more detail.
Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This news release contains and refers to
forward-looking information based on current expectations. All
other statements other than statements of historical fact included
in this release are forward-looking statements (or forward-looking
information). The Corporation's plans involve various estimates and
assumptions and its business is subject to various risks and
uncertainties. For more details on these estimates, assumptions,
risks and uncertainties, see the Corporation's most recent Annual
Information Form and most recent Management Discussion and Analysis
on file with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory
authorities on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. These forward-looking
statements are made as of the date hereof and there can be no
assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, such
statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and
actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements that are
included herein, except in accordance with applicable securities
laws.
www.firsturanium.com
SOURCE First Uranium Corporation